English Grammar, Third edition (2011)
Introduction
This grammar is suitable for anyone who is interested in the English language and how it works in everyday current contexts. It has been written mainly for advanced-level students and their teachers, but any serious learner will find it a valuable reference tool.
The information in this book is taken from a long and careful study of present-day English involving the analysis of the Collins corpus – a corpus of many millions of words of speech and writing.
A functional approach
Most people who study and use a language are interested in how they can do things with the language – how they can make meanings, get attention, influence people, and learn about the world. They are interested in the grammatical structure of the language as a way of getting things done.
A grammar that puts together the patterns of the language and the things you can do with them is called a functional grammar.
This is a functional grammar; that is to say, it is based on the important relation between structure and function.
Each chapter is built around a major function of language, such as describing people and things, and reporting what someone said. Each of these functions is regularly expressed in English by one particular structure. For example, describing people and things is usually expressed by adjectives, and reporting what people say or think typically involves a reporting verb such as say, followed by a clause beginning with that or a clause with quotation marks (‘ ’) around it.
This grammar follows up each major statement (often called a rule in other grammars) with a detailed description of the uses surrounding it – including any exceptions. The scope of the original function may then be extended. For example, the basic, central function of reporting verbs (chapter 7) is to state what someone has said.
He said he would be back soon.
It can easily be extended to include what someone has written.
His mother wrote that he had finally arrived home.
Then it can be widened to include thoughts and feelings; these do not need to be expressed in words, but the reporting structure is very convenient.
The boys thought he was dead.
From this we can see the reporting clause as a more general way of introducing another clause.
Examples
All the examples in this book are taken from the Collins corpus.
As ever, the corpus lies at the heart of each grammar point described, helping compilers to make confident and accurate decisions about different structures and usage. Examples themselves remain close to the corpus, with minor changes made so that they are more accessible to the learner. They are carefully chosen so as to illustrate typical patterns and collocations in real-life situations.
Groups of words that behave in the same way
As well as providing a wealth of illustrative examples, this book gives further information about the grammar of a large number of specific words. The actual words and phrases that are regularly used in each structure are given in a series of lists. In this way, the learner can get a good idea of how large or small a grammatical class is, and how many words a certain rule applies to.
Wherever there is good reason to do so, the words and phrases are grouped together in a list in a meaningful arrangement. So, for example, at 1.21, separate groups are set out in a single list, including animals, fish, words ending in -craft, and foreign words ending in -s. These all share the same feature, i.e. that they can be either singular or plural nouns without any change in form – moose, salmon, aircraft, corps. From a purely grammatical point of view, they could all go in a single alphabetical list; however from a teaching and learning point of view, it is helpful to have them further classified according to their meaning.
‘Be creative’
Certain areas of English grammar are very flexible and productive. Some are well known, such as the fact that almost any noun in English can modify another noun. For example, the noun steam can be used in, among others, the following combinations: steam bath, steam room, steam engine, steam iron, steam power, and steam train.
With this in mind, several ‘Be creative’ features are included to encourage learners to use their imagination, and to be more confident about expressing themselves. In such cases, rather than giving a definite rule, we prefer to give guidance so that the user can make individual choices with no serious risk of error. By describing the language in this way, we give plenty of scope for creativity and innovation.
Accessibility
When using a grammar, it can be difficult to find the information that you want. This is often the biggest single problem for users of grammars, and a good reason why grammars are often unpopular with learners. This grammar makes a special effort to support the user.
We have aimed to use the most up-to-date and commonly used grammatical terminology throughout. Technical terms have been used only where there is no obvious alternative. A glossary of terms is provided and they are also all listed in the index.
There is a contents list at the beginning of the book. Using this or the index, the user will be able to find the section or paragraph where a function is associated with a structure.
Throughout the book there are paragraph headings that show the topic of almost every paragraph, and there are frequent additional headings for each section of a chapter. At the top of each page, there is another heading to guide the user.
New developments in language
The continued development of the corpus has enabled us to keep up with the ever-changing nature of language. This third edition of COBUILD English Grammar presents the results of a body of research that has been carried out on language data collected over the last 20 years. The researchers tracked the development of a set of grammatical features, including:
(i) the use of the progressive with so-called stative verbs (e.g. I’m loving every minute of it)
(ii) the use of much in affirmative unmodified statements (e.g. There was much debate)
(iii) the spread of generic pronouns (e.g. You get some people who are very difficult)
(iv) the use of like in reporting structures (e.g. And I was like, ‘wow!’)
The results were sometimes fascinating and surprising, and have enabled us to ensure that this new edition of the Grammar gives you a clear portrayal of real English as it is written and spoken today.
The grammar of academic and business English
In the course of our preparation for this new edition, teachers and learners told us that a useful extension of our functional approach would be to focus on two main contexts in which English is used as a lingua franca throughout the world – academic and business English.
As a result, two brand-new supplementary sections have been added. These identify the principal areas of grammar that learners need to master if they wish to communicate effectively in business and academic contexts.
The academic English section covers such areas as explaining results, reviewing research, and reporting findings. The section on the grammar of business English looks at typical structures used in such contexts as sharing information, negotiating, and giving presentations. Extensive cross-referencing allows the user to refer back to the main text, where structures are discussed in greater detail.
We hope that you will enjoy learning about English grammar from a functional perspective – from exploring the wealth of real-world examples of current language, to understanding how certain structures work in academic and business contexts. We hope, too, that as a result, you will gain the confidence to use English creatively and effectively in a wide range of everyday situations.
How to use this Grammar
The Collins COBUILD English Grammar is designed to be used both for quick reference and for in-depth study.
Organization of the main text
The main text of the Grammar is divided into ten chapters. The first two chapters deal with the noun phrase, chapters 3, 4, and 5 with the verb phrase. Chapter 6 deals with adverbs and prepositions, chapter 7 with reporting, chapter 8 with joining words, phrases and clauses, and chapters 9 and 10 with continuous text.
Each chapter consists of a series of main topics and each topic is divided into sections. Paragraphs in the chapter are numbered, so that chapter 1 runs from 1.1 to 1.251, chapter 2 from 2.1 to 2.302 and so on.
This numbering system makes it easy for the user to refer to different but related points. There are cross-references throughout the text, either pointing to the main place where a topic is dealt with or to another paragraph where more information is given.
Most paragraphs also have a heading, saying in a few words what it deals with, especially which grammatical structure is being explained. Some paragraph headings do not show specifically what the paragraph deals with, but indicate information of a different kind. These paragraphs have the headings ‘Be careful’, ‘Be Creative’, and ‘Usage Note’.
‘Be Careful’ highlights points where people often have problems with a particular grammatical feature of English, for example because it is a feature where English is different from many other languages.
‘Be Creative’ indicates that the rule that has been mentioned can be applied in English to a very large number of words. For example, it is nearly always possible to make the -ing participle of a verb into an adjective that is used in front of a noun. By taking note of these features, you can use the rules that have been presented in a creative and original way, giving you greater freedom to express yourself in English. ‘Be Creative’ features are explained in greater detail in the Introduction.
‘Usage Note’ gives information about the use of individual words or small groups of words. This information is important but cannot be generalized into a grammatical rule. The Usage Notes help you to understand points that are important for the understanding of particular words, rather than points that relate to large numbers of words.
The U.S. flag symbol highlights paragraphs containing information about typical American English usage.
The speech bubble symbol identifies paragraphs describing structures that are most commonly found in spoken English.
Most of the grammatical explanations are followed by examples showing how the structure is used. These examples are all taken from the Collins corpus, and show how the structures are used naturally in speech or writing. The examples therefore give important information about the typical use of a structure, the words it is frequently used with, and the contexts in which it is likely to occur.
Throughout the book, grammatical explanations are followed by lists of the words that typically illustrate that grammatical point. For example, in Chapter 3, the point is made that many verbs can be either transitive or intransitive with the same meaning. This is followed by a list of verbs that are frequently used in this way.
The lists go beyond the actual examples of use that are given, to other words that behave in similar ways. They show whether the point being made can be applied to a small number or a large number of words. If the group is small, all members of it are given. If it is large, then the most frequently used words are given.
These lists can be used to help you increase your vocabulary and to check that you are using newly learned English words correctly.
Additional contents
In addition to the main text, there are various other sections which are included to help you to get the most out of this Grammar. These additional sections are described below.
Glossary of grammatical terms
The Glossary explains the meaning of grammatical terms. It covers the terms that are used in this grammar, and also includes terms that are used in other grammars, with a cross-reference to the term used in this book, where appropriate. For example, this grammar talks about the present progressive, whereas some other grammars call it the present continuous. Both of these terms are mentioned in the Glossary, with the explanation being given at present progressive.
The Reference Section
This section at the back of the book provides an easy-to-use reference guide that shows how the following groups of words are formed:
• plurals of nouns
• the comparative and superlative of adjectives
• ‘-ly’ adverbs formed from adjectives
• the comparative and superlative of adverbs
• tenses
• other verb forms
• passives
• principal parts of irregular verbs
The Reference Section also includes other topics. For example, it starts with a pronunciation guide, to remind you of the sounds of English. There are also lists of numbers, and an explanation of how numbers are expressed aloud.
Index
The Index is a comprehensive list of everything dealt with in the Grammar. It covers:
(i) the grammatical and functional topics dealt with in the Grammar;
(ii) individual words where they are used as examples of a particular grammatical point;
(iii) grammatical terms, both those used in this book and those commonly used in other books.